Date of Award

Spring 5-18-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Major

Expressive Therapies

First Advisor

Dr. E Kellogg

Abstract

The goal of this thesis is to examine the civil rights movement in sociopolitical and embodied contexts. Positioning dance as a method of data collection, analysis, and interpretation; as well as a competent means of trauma-informed intergenerational healing. It builds upon the principles of arts-based research, dance/movement, therapy, polyvagal theory, and the body as an informed living archive of social experiences. Somatic resilience and embodied activism as seen as a vital part of the fight for humanitarian relief and social change. This is seen in the exploration of cultural understanding of civil, rights, and movement etymologically in the overcurrent of the American history and socially accepted ideologies. These literary underpinnings lay the theoretical grounding for the applied workshop: created in direct reaction to the murder of a homeless man in the City of Atlanta (Mr. Cornelius Taylor). This workshop highlights historical and current needs for systemic change in how society treats the economically and racially oppressed. It utilizes practices from modern-day dance/movement therapy intervention, Chi for Two ® (created by D/M Therapist and somatic practitioner Dee Wagner MSME, MSMT, BC-DMT, LPC). Findings support that dance can be a reliable and valid form of historical and cultural inquiry. This expressive modality also serves as an epistemological tool for processing culturally traumatic events, fostering relational repair, and supporting social transformation.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Download

Share

COinS